But I so wanted to get it, to enjoy it too.  I was not ready to give up on it just yet.  I couldn't understand why so many people waxed poetic about it. I wanted to be able to do the same. 

And so I kept with it, persistently.  Periodically trying a new recipe to see if I might not come up with something that I enjoyed. I so wanted to be able to taste what it was that other people were tasting.

 A few weeks back I saw a video on Tasty for what looked like a really pretty ratatouille.  It was composed of a sauce that was cooked first on top of the stove and then layered in a dish.

Next they added layers of thinly sliced rounds of vegetables to the top. They were arranged so prettily. It looked like a picture. 

They drizzled a basil oil over top and then covered it tightly and baked it, until the vegetables were meltingly tender. It looked quite promising.

 This week I added all of the vegetables to my grocery order so that I could make it.  I bought myself some fresh yellow and green courgettes (zucchini) and ripe roma tomatoes.  I also bought some baby aubergine (eggplant). 

I did not want to make a full recipe, as I knew it would be far too much for us to conceivably eat. We do not have the appetites these days that we used to have in the old days.

 Instead of their suggested topping for the vegetables I created one of my own using basil pesto, olive oil and a splash of Balsamic vinegar.  I cannot think of anything that doesn't taste much better when having added a bit of Balsamic vinegar to it. 

It looked as pretty as a picture before it went into the oven. I was so pleased with how it looked. I was almost dancing around the room. If this tasted even half as good when done as it looked before baking, we were in for a real treat!

 I envisioned this beautiful pie dish of ratatouille coming from the oven. We eat first with our eyes after all, and it did smell quite lovely when it was baking. 

Hmmm . . .  it came out looking a bit like a dog's dinner I am sad to say. LOL  I had to laugh when I saw it. Where was the visual appeal?

 Anyways, I dutifully scattered some fresh basil over top and took some photos. If I am honest, and I always am, I wasn't feeling very hopeful. 

To say I was more than a tad bit disappointed in how it looked is a bit of an understatement. The proof of the pudding is in the eating however, so I was reserving my judgement for that.

 Even though there was a huge part of me that was thinking that if this looked this nasty, then it was going to taste nasty also. Admittedly it looked quite a bit better once I broke through and spooned some of it onto a plate.

But how would it taste . . .  I held my breath. I had some lovely fresh French Bread that I had been saving to dip into it when it was done.

Admittedly, I hate to waste food.  Fresh vegetables are somewhat expensive, even at this time of year when they are plentiful. If you don't have a garden, you are at the mercy of the shops. 

I have to say the fresh veg I have been getting from Ocado have been really nice. They cost a bit more than Asda, but quality speaks for itself, and I have been more than happy with everything.  They have now partnered with M&S and M&S is quality.

 I spooned some out onto the plate. It didn't look half bad. It smelled gorgeous if I don't say so myself. I was feeling rather hopeful. 

I had my crusty bread at the ready.  Was I going to be happy?  Was I finally going to see why people wax lyrical about Ratatouille?

I was pleasantly surprised just by what it looked like spooned onto my plate. It actually looked so good that my tastebuds started to tingle  . . . 

It was filled with colour and texture. It smelled amazing. I was beginning to be hopeful.

I spooned some onto my bread. I did not butter the bread. I did not want my palate for the ratatouille spoiled by my love of butter. I wanted to try it completely unadulterated . . . 

I did toy with the idea of toasting my bread, but in the end, I left it in its natural crusty state.  I am happy that I did.

 This was amazingly delicious!  I was really pleased.  The zucchini and the eggplant were properly tender.  The tomatoes melted in the mouth  . . . 

There was none of the bitterness that you can sometimes get from both zucchini and eggplant. Both were somewhat buttery, almost sweet and somewhat indulgent.

 The flavour of the sauce that was on the bottom perfectly enhanced and had flavoured everything. The pesto/balsamic mixture I had sprinkled on top had done its job perfectly.

The crusty bread was perfect without butter. It did a beautiful job of mopping everything up. I did what I had not done in a very long time. I went in for seconds.

 

Baked Ratatouille for Two

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Yield: 2 generous servings

Author: Marie Rayner

prep time: 15 Mincook time: 55 Mintotal time: 1 H & 10 M

Bursting with lush flavours. Perfect to serve with crusty bread. Leftovers can be kept in the refrigerator, tightly covered, for up to one week.

Ingredients:

For the tomato sauce:

• 1 14-oz (400g) tin of chopped tomatoes in tomato juice
• 1/2 small red bell pepper, trimmed and chopped
• 1 small onion, peeled and chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 6 basil leaves chopped

For the vegetables:

• 1 medium  green zucchini (courgette) thinly sliced, 1/8 inch thick
• 1 medium yellow zucchini (courgette) thinly sliced, 1/8 inch thick
• 1 very small egg plant (aubergine), trimmed and thinly sliced, 1/8 inch thick
• 2 roma tomatoes, cored and thinly sliced, 1/8 inch thick
• fine sea salt and black pepper to taste

You will also need:

• 1 TBS basil pesto
• 1 TBS olive oil
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• torn basil leaves to garnish
• crusty French bread to serve

Instructions:

1. Begin by making the sauce.  Add the oil to a saucepan. Add the peppers, onions and garlic. Sweat over medium heat, stirring frequently for 4 to 5 minutes until tender. Add the tomatoes and seasonings.  Simmer for about 15 minutes until nicely thickened. (This is important as the vegetables will give out more liquid in the oven and you don't want them to dilute the sauce too much.) Pour into an 8 inch pie dish, smoothing over the top. Place on a baking tray.
2. Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. 
3. Arrrange the sliced vegetables decoratively over top of the tomato sauce, pushing them down into it a bit. 
4. Whisk together the pesto, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Drizzle this over top of the vegetables in the baking dish.  Cover tightly with aluminium foil.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes, until the vegetables are meltingly tender.
6. Serve warm or at room temperature, garnish with fresh basil and with some fresh French bread to help mop all of it up.  Delicious!

notes:

Make sure you cook the sauce until it is nice and thick. When it is baking the other vegetables will release plenty of liquid and thin it out. You may use a thick marinara sauce in its place instead of making your own. If you prefer crisper vegetables you can reduce the bake time. If you want softer vegetables you can increase the bake time.

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    I am really pleased that I decided not to give up on ratatouille. If you have never tried it before, I really hope that you will.  Especially now when we have an abundance of fresh zucchini and tomatoes to work with! 

 

 One of the things I love to make when we have leftover roasted or rotisserie chicken is Nachos.  They are easy to make, and very easily adapted to your individual tastes. 

They also make for a very quick week night supper, or if you are feeling particularly indulgent, something to munch on whilst watching a game or a film on the telly at the weekend!  Teenagers also love them, so they are great for teen get-togethers and parties. 

Not that any of us are doing a lot of partying at the  moment with the virus, but one can always live in hope!

 Nachos was not something I had ever made until my sister introduced me to them back in the 1990's.  We did eat a lot of Tex Mex food in my home.  Enchiladas and Tacos were a real favourite.

But I had just not heard of or tried Nachos. We went en masse to visit my sister with my mother one weekend when my sister was living in London, Ontario and I was living in Meaford, Ontario. When I think back on it now, that was really a lot of Nachos to make in order to feed all of us!

 But that is one of the great things about nachos! You can amp them up or down according to how many people you have at the table!  There would have been 14 of us including my mother.

Another good thing is that they are really quick and easy to make! Cheesy, crisp tortilla chips, layered with flavourful chicken, black beans and a variety of toppings! 

You just can't go wrong! They are real people pleasers!

 

 Actually, I will usually make ours separately. I will use Tortilla chips for mine and frozen french fries for his.  Everybody's a happy camper!!! 

I used leftover chicken for mine this time, from our roast dinner the other day. You can also use shredded rotisserie chicken, which works perfectly well.

 I like to toss the chicken together with some seasonings to give it extra flavour.  I use mild chili powder that I bring over here from North America. I find the British Chili powder far too spicy and hot.

Funny story. I had not lived here very long and Todd's Aunt Doris was up from Devon visiting us. She was the age then that Todd is now. I wanted to make my special chili potatoes for us as a side dish for our supper.

I added a full tablespoon of what I though was regular chili powder.  One biteful and our heads almost blew off!  Kapow! I had never tasted anything so hot in my life.  Totally inedible. 

The chili powder here in the UK is completely unadulterated by anything else.  It is pure ground dried red chilis and it is hot, hot, hot!  In North America what we buy as chili powder has been  mixed with other things such as ground oregano, cumin, coriander, garlic, salt and cloves!

 I was totally surprised at the heat of the chili powder here! A mistake I never made ever again!  If you are worried about your chicken being too dry, you can also add a quantity of prepared tomato salsa. 

You don't need a lot, just a couple of dollops will do it. You don't want it to be soggy so that it makes your chips soggy. Unless you particularly like soggy chips!  We I don't!

  

 I like to use lots of different toppings when it comes to my nachos. Sliced olives (both black and green), diced bell peppers (red, yellow and green), chopped green chilies and chopped red onions. I also used some black beans. 

Feel free to adapt those toppings to whatever your family loves and enjoys. You can add pickled jalapenos, or roasted green chilies. Some people even like sliced raw green chilies. I am afraid I can't stand the additional heat!

 If you don't like chicken, or have a vegetarian in the house, you can use shredded jack fruit in much the same way. It has a texture very similar to that of meat. 

If you don't want to use chicken, you can use browned ground beef, or even browned ground turkey. Just add the spices as I have suggested as per the recipe and amounts.  For two people I would never go larger than 2 cups, and to be honest 2 cups is very generous.

These are double layered.  You get a first layer of chips and chicken and cheese and then a second layer of the same, finally topping them with your preferred toppings.

 I served these hot with our favourite cold tomato salsa and some sour cream.  I also splashed some green Tabasco over the top of mine.

Green Tabasco doesn't have quite as much heat as the red Tabsco sauce has. I quite like it actually. Its really good on eggs of any kind.

Sheet Pan Chicken Nachos make for a lush and deliciously perfect mid-week supper!  Quick and easy to make an economical, they always go down a real treat!

Easy Sheet Pan Chicken Nachos for Two

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Yield: 2

Author: Marie Rayner

prep time: 10 Mincook time: 10 Mintotal time: 20 Min

Nothing could be easier or more delicious. These fabulously tasty nachos are the perfect way to use up leftover roast chicken, and if you line your pan with some aluminium foil there is minimal clean up afterwards!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (45g) of well drained black beans
• 1/4 cup (45g) of sliced olives (I use a mix of green and black)
• 1/2 small jalapeno pepper, trimmed and finely chopped
• 1/2 small red onion, trimmed and finely chopped
• 4 TBS finely chopped coloured bell peppers (use a mix)
• 1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) grated Monterery Jack cheese
• 2 cups chopped or shredded leftover roast, or rotisserie chicken
• 2 tsp mild chili powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 bag of restaurant style tortilla chips (8 ounces or 225g)

To serve (all optional):

• Tomato salsa
• Dairy sour cream
• guacamole
• Chopped green onions and tomatoes

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 225*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminium foil. Spray lightly with some low fat cooking spray.
2. Prepare your chicken by either cubing or shredding. Toss in together in a bowl along with the chili powder, garlic powder and onion powder. (You can also add some tomato salsa if you wish.)
3. Build your nachos by layering the ingredients on the baking sheet as follows: Half of the tortilla chips (spread out in an even layer), 1/2 of the chicken, 1/2 of the cheese, the black beans, the remaining tortilla chips, the remaining chicken, the remaining cheese, then the olives, jalapeno, peppers and chopped onions.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes until the cheese has melted and everything is heated through. The edges should just be starting to brown. 
5. Divide between two plates and serve hot with your desired garnishes.

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Normally we will eat our big meal of the day around 1 pm.  A lot of that has to do with natural light. Yes, I am a bit of a slave to blogging. But happily so, I hasten to add.

I like to take all of my photos using natural light. The optimum time for that is earlier in the day, usually around midday. Any later than that and I have to go outside and, to be honest, the UK is usually a bit wet and rainy for that to be very pleasant.

 

 

The muffins are split and lightly buttered with soft butter and then sprinkled with a bit of garlic powder.  POWDER not salt.  How much is up to you, but I do suggest that you not leave it out. It really adds a lovely flavour boost.

Over top of that you add some grated cheese.  I used a mix of cheddar and red leicester cheeses today because I wanted you to be abl to see the cheese. Our cheddar is naturally white here  in the UK, unless you buy dyed and it doesn't show up well in photos.

 I do so love British Cheddar Cheese. They invented it and they make some of the best in the world.

I always, always use organic free range eggs and rspca approved if I can get them. The eggs I get from Ocado are always rspca approved. I want to eat happy eggs from happy chickens.

Chickens that have truly been allowed to roam around and peck in the dirt. The only way you can really guarantee that is to buy rspca approved. Most "free-rangers" still live in somewhat crowded conditions, albeit not even close to horrendous as caged hens.

 

 

 

 

Layer the eggs, sausage and more cheese onto the muffin halves and bake. That's it. They don't take long. About 15 minutes maximum! Just long enough for your coffee to brew if you are so inclined.

You can make as few or as many of these as you like!  They will keep well in the refrigerator for up to 7 days, in an airtight container. Simply reheat in the microwave for 30 to 45 seconds.

You can also make them up to the point of assembly prior to baking, wrap well and freeze for up to three months.  Ready to take out and cook when you want them. Simply pop into a preheated oven and bake as below.

English Muffin Breakfast Pizza

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Yield: 2

Author: Marie Rayner

prep time: 10 Mincook time: 15 Mintotal time: 25 Min

Quantities are given for two, but you can easily double or triple to feed more. These egg, sausage and cheesy breakfast pizzas are fabulously simple to make and incredibly tasty!

Ingredients:

• 2 English Muffins, split in half
• 2 breakfast sausages, skinned
• 3 large free range eggs
• 2 TBS softened butter
• garlic powder to sprinkle
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup (60g) grated strong cheddar cheese
• minced chives to sprinkle (optional)

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.
2. Split your english muffins and place them onto a baking tray. Spread each lightly with the softened butter and then sprinkle with a bit of garlic powder to taste. Top each half with 1 TBS of grated cheese.
3. Heat a small skillet over medium heat and crumble in the sausage.  Cook, mashing it with a fork and crumbling it, until it is thoroughly cooked through.  Remove to a plate lined with paper towel to drain.
4. Beat the eggs together with a fork and season to taste with salt and black pepper.  Drain most of the fat from the skillet.  Add the beaten eggs and scamble fry until just set. Remove from the heat.
5. Crumble half of the cooked sausage over the muffin halves, dividing it equally.  Top each with 1/4 of the scrambled egg.  Crumble the remaining sausage over top and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
6. Bake in the preheated oven until the muffins are lightly toasted and the cheese has melted, about 10 to 15 minutes.
7. Sprinkle with the minced chives, if using, and serve immediately.

Did you make this recipe?

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Created using The Recipes Generator 

This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com 

Thanks so much for visiting. Do come 

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